All posts for the month July, 2007

In our ongoing effort to maintain the highest standard in our instructors, Silvercore contracted retired Vancouver Police firearms instructor Nick Bolton to teach a 3 day instructor development course. Present were Dan Gilbert, Eric Beer, Amyn Dharamshi (the head firearms and use of force instructor for the lower mainland divisions of Brinks Armoured Car) and Travis Bader.With a background in policing as well as the military, Nick is a wealth of experience. Nick has been training the armed professional out of the Justice Institute of B.C. for many years, as well as out of the highly respected Firearms Academy of Seattle owned and operated by Marty and Gila Hayes.

The train the trainer course was geared specifically towards the defensive use of the shotgun and handgun, but much of the information can be assimilated into our regular training courses not involving the use of firearms for legal defence. The course content included:

Unusual firing positions

Use of cover

Multiple target engagement

Low light

Legal studies

Speed drills

Accuracy drills

Method of instruction

Dealing with problem students

Course layout

Target analysis

Malfunction drills

Alternative training methods

Departmental training considerations

Fitting the firearm to your student

And more!

Now it’s the instructors job to practice and build on what they have learned so that they can in turn train their students on the latest techniques of shooting.

BROOKFIELD — A well-known gun expert and author was killed and another man injured in a tractor-trailer-car collision Thursday night, according to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office.

James Cirillo, 76, of West Edmeston, was driving west on Welsh Road around 7 p.m. when his vehicle entered Route 8 into the path of an 18-wheel tractor-trailer driven by Christopher Madison, 36, of Richardson Avenue in Utica, deputies said.

The tractor-trailer struck Cirillo’s vehicle on the driver’s side, deputies said.
Cirillo died at the scene. Madison was treated for back injuries at St. Elizabeth Medical Center in Utica, deputies said.

Cirillo taught numerous firearm classes and wrote several books, including “Guns, Bullets, and Gunfights: Lessons and Tales From a Modern-Day Gunfighter.” He also had several videos.

Violet Jimenez, Cirillo’s partner of nine years who lived with him in West Edmeston, said he was a renowned firearms instructor and a retired New York City police officer.

“If you check the Internet, you’ll find everything about him,” she said. “He was a very humorous man and loved his hunting and fishing. He was just a very vibrant person.”

According to Amazon.com, Cirillo spent many years with the New York City Police Stakeout Unit and participated in more than 250 armed encounters. He also spent years as a firearms instructor at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

Since retiring from law enforcement, Cirillo has conducted periodic firearms training courses, the site states.

Witnesses to the accident told deputies that Cirillo’s car appeared to enter Route 8 to possibly make a U-turn. He apparently did not realize the tractor-trailer was rounding a curve near the intersection, deputies said.

Guide rails prevented both vehicles from going over a steep embankment, deputies said.

Deputies, along with the Sheriff’s Office accident reconstruction team and evidence specialists, are continuing their investigation today.
No charges have been filed against Madison, deputies said.